Top 10 sports stories of 2015

1. Washington girls? golf sweeps state titles

Taking the top spot in the 2015 stories of the year is the Washington girls? golf team capping off a phenomenal year with a pair of state titles in Marshalltown. From left to right, Megan Strabala, Brenna Burlingame, Meredith Lumbuerg, Sarah Waite, Sarah Nacos and Deanna Peiffer all hoist the team title trophy. In the individual tournament, Waite and Peiffer each finished in the Top 10, earning All-State honors, and Nacos capped off a stellar freshman season with the individual state meet title by seven strokes in the two-round tournament. The team graduated Lumberg and Waite in May, but figures to return the other four varsity golfers as they look to defend their title.

2. Beatty claims national title

Iowa Mennonite junior Alijah Beatty claimed the 2015 national title for 15-16-year-old women at the USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships criterium event in June 2015.

Beatty also finished in fifth-place nationally in the 42-mile road race and fifth in the 12.2 mile time trial at the event.

The junior will look to add to her medal collection next summer when she returns to nationals.

3. Bryce West wins state title

Highland?s Bryce West won the Class 1A 120-pound state title in wrestling in February 2015, capping off a perfect 50-0 season.

The current Highland junior placed third at the state tournament as a freshman before claiming the title as a sophomore and is still wrestling at 120 pounds as he looks to defend the crown.

West is currently 18-0 at the midway point of the 2015-16 season.

4. Mid-Prairie sends boys,? girls? XC to state

One year after sending the girls? team to state for the first time, it was another year of firsts for the Mid-Prairie cross-country team.

With a sweep of their district, the Hawks sent both their girls? and boys? teams to the state meet in Fort Dodge for the first time in school history.

At state, the Mid-Prairie girls took eighth as a team, while the boys finished in fourth place among the top state runners.

5. Skubal, Keller take second at state

At the Class 2A state wrestling meet, a pair of area wrestlers were just short of claiming state titles.

Washington?s Brad Skubal capped off his stellar Demon wrestling career finishing in second place in the 195-pound weight class, with all four of his losses on the season coming to the same opponent.

Columbus? Josh Keller took second place in the 106-pound weight class, and he will look to take it one step further if he can reach Des Moines again in his senior season.

6. Marek, Peterson place third at state track

Washington had a pair of seniors shine at the state track meet this May.

Macy Marek (left) ran a 13.15 in the 100-meter dash to take third place in the state, while also finishing 12th in the 200-meter dash, to go with conference and district championships in each event.

Tommy Peterson (right) picked up his second-straight third-place finish in the shot put, and graduated from Washington holding the school record in the shot put.

7. Demon wrestling claims conference title

It was a stellar year for the 2014-15 Washington wrestling team, as they claimed their second-straight Southeast Iowa Conference title with a sweep of the conference.

Led by Southeast Iowa Conference MVP Brad Skubal, the Demons ran roughshod through their competition until the regional dual tournament began and they fell to Mediapolis.

Washington also sent six athletes to districts, and four different Demons qualified for the state tournament.

The momentum has carried over to the 2015-16 season as the Demons entered the winter break with a 17-0 dual record (2-0 in conference duals) and as the team tournament champion at the Mediapolis invitational.

8. Demon football has three named All-State

Washington football had numerous question marks coming into the season, but stellar performances from its young stars helped make for a thrilling season and some big recognition.

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Reighard and junior offensive lineman Seth Townsend each earned third-team All-State honors, while sophomore defensive back Jaivonn Willis was a first-team All-State selection. The Demons went 7-3 on the season, and finished second in the district.

9. Three area softballers named first-team All-State

With a pair of highly ranked teams in the area, a trio of athletes were named among the best in the state.

Highland?s Kelsey Hora was named to the Class 2A All-State team for her efforts this seaosn, while Mid-Prairie?s Amber Kral and Alex Rath were each named to the Class 3A All-State softball team.

10. Archery sends 18 to nationals

It was a landmark year for the Washington archers this past season.

After only being in their third year of operation, the program sent 18 archers to nationals, including the entire high school team.

While at nationals, the Washington high school team finished at 80th in the nation and senior Kyle Basten finished in 41st out of 371 senior boys in the competition.

In other high marks, Olin Wells finished in 93rd in the national elementary shoot, and finished in 75th among other fifth-grade boys. He was fourth place among the other Iowa competitors.